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Why Sensitivity Is Lost

In psychology and neuroscience, sensitivity has traditionally been viewed as a basic function of perception that enables contact with the internal and external environment. Through sensitivity, the capacity to recognize bodily signals, emotional nuances, needs, and contextual changes is formed. It lies at the foundation of orientation, motivation, and the subjective sense of fullness of life.

However, in practical work an apparent paradox is increasingly observed: even in the absence of pronounced symptoms and after successful restoration of basic regulation, many people continue to experience reduced intensity of experience, loss of interest, and a narrowed emotional range. This state may manifest as a sense of the «flatness» of life, difficulty experiencing pleasure, or a weak response to events that previously evoked emotional resonance.

Such a state is often perceived as a personality trait, an age-related change, or a consequence of character. In some cases, it is interpreted as a «normalization» following a period of intense stress. However, contemporary data from neuropsychology and psychophysiology point to a different explanation: reduced sensitivity is often an adaptive response of the nervous system to prolonged load, chronic stress, or overload of regulatory mechanisms.

Sensitivity does not disappear suddenly and does not «break» as a result of a single event. It is lost gradually – as the nervous system is compelled to reduce the flow of sensory and interoceptive information in order to maintain functionality. Under conditions of prolonged tension, excessive sensitivity becomes a source of overload, and the organism begins to limit access to sensations as a resource.

In this context, numbness, diminished pleasure, or a subjective «flatness» of experience function not as signs of pathology, but as forms of protection. This is not a rejection of feeling, but a narrowing of the perceptual range that allows a reduction of energetic costs and prevents further disorganization of regulation.

It is important to emphasize that such changes may persist even after basic nervous system resilience has been restored. Even when chronic tension has decreased and the capacity for self-regulation has been partially recovered, sensitivity does not always return automatically. A nervous system accustomed to operating in a mode of resource conservation does not immediately shift to a more open and receptive mode.

For this reason, work with sensitivity requires conditions different from those used in work with symptoms, stress, or overload. Attempts to «bring feelings back» through stimulation, the pursuit of intense experiences, or forced amplification of sensations can lead to the opposite effect – strengthening of defensive reactions or renewed overload.

This book proposes to consider sensitivity and pleasure not as subjective or secondary phenomena, but as regulatory functions closely linked to the state of the nervous system and bodily accessibility. Such an approach makes it possible to move beyond evaluative categories – «sensitive / insensitive,» «normal / abnormal» – and to view the loss and return of sensitivity as processes amenable to neurophysiological and scientific analysis.

In the chapters that follow, it will be shown how the NeuroWave method can be used to restore sensitivity without forcing, relying on mechanisms of regulation, bodily safety, and gradual expansion of the perceptual range. This book does not offer accelerated solutions, but describes the conditions under which sensitivity can return as a natural consequence of restored nervous system functioning.